The distribution of COVID-19 vaccines continues to divide countries: on the one hand, those who begin their deconfinement, on the other, the less fortunate who continue to be hit by new waves of contamination, for lack of doses available. More than 75% of the 1.8 billion doses that have been injected worldwide to date have been administered in just ten countries, lamented Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus this week .
Although it now ranks fourth among the countries where the largest proportion of the population has received at least one dose, Canada has not been the most exemplary in this crisis of “virtual monopoly” on vaccines.
Ottawa has come under fire for being the only G7 country to use the COVAX mechanism to procure vaccine doses. The initiative aims to ensure equitable access to vaccination against COVID-19 in 200 countries.
“Canada was looked at a lot when it took doses of COVAX that were supposed to go to southern countries first. All Western countries are to be criticized, since they did not follow the rules [du programme COVAX] by buying as many vaccines as possible, ”explains Maïka Sondarjee, professor of international development and globalization at the University of Ottawa.
“We did not steal doses, all countries that contributed to COVAX could take doses. This proves that the Government of Canada took part in the collective initiative, but it was nevertheless implied that the first doses were going to the countries of the South. It’s not illegal, but it “looks bad”, ”she continues.
This far-sighted approach could, however, be costly for Canada in the long term, according to the international development expert. “The image we project has an impact on our negotiations. If we say that we are going to do something and that in the end we do not do it, that has an impact on how other countries perceive us in the long term ”.
“No consequence”
Like Canada, many countries have not followed COVAX’s way forward by entering into bilateral agreements with pharmaceutical companies to reserve their doses on a priority basis, blocking the way for the international initiative to purchase doses.
“The protocol was clear: all countries go through COVAX, buy their doses and at the same time put more money into it so that the doses are distributed in the rest of the world. These rules were approved, there was a procedure to follow, and in the end, no one followed them because there are no consequences if you don’t do it, ”laments Ms. Sondarjee.
As a result, inequities between rich and poor countries continue to widen. Using public data from Our World in Data, The duty found that 85% of vaccine doses were administered in upper-middle-income and high-income countries.
These inequalities make it difficult for countries lacking doses to organize their way out of the crisis, believes the professor at the University of Ottawa.
Outbreak of contaminations
As Canada, the United States and several countries in Europe begin their deconfinement, countries like India, Argentina and Nepal have all reported significant record high COVID-19 cases in recent years. weeks.
Almost 20% of the population in Argentina and Brazil respectively received a first dose of vaccine, while Nepal is lagging behind with just 7% of its population partially vaccinated. Just over 10% of India’s population was able to receive a first dose, although the country has now become the epicenter of the pandemic across the world.
Less than 2% of the 1.8 billion doses distributed around the world were administered in Africa, while the continent represents 20% of the world population. “As supplies dry up, dose sharing is an urgent, critical and short-term solution to ensure that Africans most at risk from the novel coronavirus receive the protection they so badly need,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa Thursday.
“Africa needs vaccines now,” insisted the WHO regional director, warning that “any pause in these vaccination campaigns will result in lost lives and hopes.”
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